49ERS’ CULLIVER SHOWS REMORSE OVER WORDS

NEW ORLEANS 
The San Francisco 49ers dealt swiftly on Wednesday to stem the effect of comments made by defensive back Chris Culliver the day before.

And on Thursday, Culliver presented himself as a man who was remorseful about his homophobic statements. Culliver faced the media for the first time since his comments on a radio show in response to a question about whether a gay teammate would be welcomed in the locker room.

His comments were emphatic on Tuesday’s media day as he spoke with radio host and comedian Artie Lange: “I don’t do the gay guys, man. I don’t do that … We don’t got no gay people on the team. They’ve got to get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”

In a statement issued late Wednesday and again in person Thursday, Culliver said his words did not reflect his real feelings.

“(I was) really just not thinking,” Culliver said. “(It was) something that I thought. Definitely nothing that I felt in my heart …

Asked if he would accept an openly gay teammate, Culliver responded, “If it is, then it is. Everybody is treated equally in our locker room. … I don’t have differences with other sexualities, just like that. Like I said, that’s not what I feel in my heart and I treat everyone equal in any type of way. It’s not how I feel.”

The 49ers, who hail from about as diverse a city as there is, publicly condemned Culliver’s comments in statements on Wednesday and again in person Thursday.

“We reject what he said,’ said head coach Jim Harbaugh, who met with Culliver on Wednesday. “That’s not something that reflects the way the organization feels, the way most of the players feel.”

Making the connection

“I do not like to compare like that,” Crabtree said Thursday. “I just feel like Kaepernick came in and did what people really have not seen. I am just running along with it.”

Fact is, Crabtree was targeted 61 times in eight-plus games by Smith and 86 times in Kaepernick’s nine-plus games. And of his 100 receptions for 1,281 yards this season, 57 of the throws for 782 came from Kaepernick.

“Yeah, it is a difference,” Crabtree said. “The difference is that Kaepernick is just coming in balling. Making plays with his feet, arm and I am just trying to catch everything he throws.”

Good ending?

David Akers has had a bad year but a good career.

He has been able to go back to the beginning to draw knowledge that through tough times good things can emerge.

“It’s been a crazy, crazy situation,” he said. “I actually started in ’97 with the Panthers in training camp, went back — I was teaching sixth grade science as a permanent substitute teacher, and went to the Falcons in ’98. Got cut from there, went to the Redskins, was practice squad, got brought up, missed a couple kicks. In the first game, actually my first regular season kickoff was returned 90 yards for a touchdown, so it’s not really the way you want to start off your career.